


Mommy Dearest

by Miso



Series: country roads, take me home [4]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Genre: (casual racism and not from either of the canon characters), Childhood Trauma, Family Drama, M/M, Meet the Family, Mother-Son Relationship, Past Child Abuse, Racism, Verbal Abuse, and yeah he isnt an orphan, basically robotniks mom is the worst, but like a really shitty one, the male oc is barely here i swear, trigger warning like lots of em, yeah this lady REALLY sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:35:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23731672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miso/pseuds/Miso
Summary: Ivo isn't as orphaned as he thought he was. He finds this out the hard way.
Relationships: Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik/Agent Stone
Series: country roads, take me home [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1694119
Comments: 18
Kudos: 113





	1. A Mother's Scrutiny

**Author's Note:**

> jim carrey said in an interview that "you can't avoid [ivo] like his parents did" and imma just take that ball and run a few miles with it thank u jim.
> 
> PLEASE heed the trigger warnings in the tags. ivos mother is casually racist towards stone, and chapter two is where shit starts getting heavy. there's no porn in here just a lot of sad stuff, sorry folks
> 
> also featuring their cat sushi who is fluffy and stupid. she's valid

_Ding-dong._

"Aban, were you expecting company?"

"No, were you?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I was."

_Ding-dong._

"I don't recognize the car in the driveway."

Their recently-adopted cat, Sushi, leaped onto the couch and gazed out the window, tail twitching curiously.

_Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong-_

"Alright, alright, Jesus! I swear, if you're a Mormon come to spread the good word-"

Ivo practically wrenched the front door off its hinges, but froze at the sight of who was on his doorstep. Not Girl Scouts. Not a salesman. Not even a Mormon. He would have preferred a Mormon, honestly.

He would have listened to twenty sermons before willingly seeing his mother again.

Odelia Robotnik was a stout woman with white hair tied up into a neat bun, her hazel eyes boring holes into him the longer he went without speaking. "Well?" she asked, cocking a judgmental eyebrow, "are you going to say hello to your mother?"

"... H-hello."

"Hello, what?"

"... Hello... Mama."

"That's better. Now," Odelia shoved past her son with little fanfare, inviting herself into the house as Ivo stood, still and dumbfounded, in the doorway. "... Hm. This is what government money gets you these days, huh?"

Ivo quietly shut the door, but said nothing. "Well, I guess it's... cozy," Odelia grumbled. A sneer curled her upper lip as Sushi wound herself around the stranger's legs, purring cheerfully as she did. "Oh, god. Isaac, get this vile thing away from me," the woman snarled, pushing the cat aside with her foot (not quite kicking her, but enough to make Sushi meow indignantly and walk away). "Ugh... filthy creature." She moved on into the kitchen, almost like she owned the house herself.

Stone paused in lifting his cup of coffee to his lips. "Um... hello?"

"Well, at least government money still buys you help, I suppose. Isaac, have your butler make me some tea." Odelia moved in a little closer, inspecting Stone closely. "Though I expected fancier dress from the help."

"I'm... sorry? Who's Isaac? Who are you? Why are you in my kitchen?"

"Your kitchen? That's very cute. What's your name? Muhammad? Hadji?"

"I... what?" Stone's brow furrowed. "My name is Aban. Who...?"

"Odelia Robotnik. Isaac's mother."

What.

Stone stared at her, confusion and a hint of fear on his face. This woman conflicted every story Ivo had ever told him. As far as he knew, Ivo's parents were both dead- long dead- and who the fuck was Isaac? Logic told him it had to be the Doctor, but- why the different name?

Ivo was still standing in the living room, eyes wide and body stiff as a board. That was not normal. "Excuse me." Stone brushed past Odelia, gently putting a hand on his shoulder and leaning in close to him. "Ivo, are you okay?"

Silence. The Doctor didn't even seem to realize he was being spoken to. "Babe?" Stone's hand left Robotnik's shoulder, waving in front of his face. "Babe, you there? Hellooooo?"

Robotnik still didn't speak, instead opting to wring his hands and stare down at his feet, tensing as Odelia entered the room again. "I didn't see you put on a teapot before I left."

"Ma'am, honestly, I have no clue who you are and frankly, you're scaring me. I'm not making you tea." Stone wrapped an arm around Ivo's waist and tugged him into his side. "Ivo, honey, come on, talk to me..."

"Honey? I'm sorry, is that how you refer to your boss?"

"He isn't my boss. At least... not anymore."

Robotnik leaned, imperceptibly, into his fiance's side, and Odelia absolutely glared at him. " _Explain yourself._ "

His voice was weak, like that of a frightened child. Ivo brought his left hand up to grasp at Stone's shirt.

"I, um... I... M-Mama, this... this is Aban. He's... we're..." A pause for Robotnik to swallow, hard. "We're getting married."

The silence was deafening, with the exception of the ticking clock in the living room and the sound of Sushi obliviously playing with a little jingly toy mouse. "You're what."

"... We're engaged, Mama." Another thing that struck Stone as odd. Ivo was referring to this woman as 'mama,' which was the last term he thought Robotnik would use for a mother figure. Stone's own mother, Dinah, had insisted upon being called 'Mom', and Robotnik just couldn't wrap his tongue around it. He'd settled on 'Mother', which Dinah accepted, and here he was referring to this lady who had barged into their house unannounced as 'Mama.'

"And you didn't bother to tell me?"

Silence. Odelia came closer and snatched Ivo's hand from Stone's chest, adjusting her glasses and inspecting his ring. He tried to pull his hand away- he hated, hated, _hated_ anyone who wasn't named Aban Lee Daniel Stone touching his ungloved hands- but god she just held tighter.

"This is all he could get you? Three piddly little rocks and a white gold band?"

The hurt was visible on Ivo's face as he finally yanked his hand free of the old woman's iron grip. "I... I quite like it, Mama."

"Hmph. Well, it might be fine for... someone of _his kind_ ," Odelia snorted, "but I thought you would accept only the finest, Isaac."

"It's Ivo..."

"No. I named you Isaac. Your name is Isaac. I don't care what those stupid government kiss-asses said your name was."

"Ma'am," Stone warned, his tone having dropped dangerously low, "I would like it if you would stop."

"Stop what?"

"Just... everything you're doing right now. You barged into our home, unannounced, call my fiance a name that isn't his, claiming you're his mother, call me mild racial slurs, insult the ring I proposed to him with-"

"I _am_ his mother." Notably, she didn't try to deny or defend any of the other things Stone had pointed out. "But if you want me gone, then fine. I'll be back in the morning. We'll go to breakfast. It's my right as your mother to see you, Isaac."

"Ivo," Stone corrected her again. "His name is Ivo."

"Whatever. I'd like to get to know... um... Uhhh-ban?"

"Aban."

"Yeah, that. I'll be back at eight-thirty tomorrow morning. Be ready."

She turned and walked out the front door, slamming it behind her, and Sushi let out an inquisitive "mrah?" noise before directing her attention back to her toy.

\---

Ivo barely spoke for the rest of the day, though he did remain as close to Stone as possible. However, he kept himself turned away from Aban when the couple turned in for the night, and didn't react to the gentle 'good night' from Stone's side of the bed, nor when the agent sat up to regard him. "Babe?"

Robotnik glanced back at him for just a moment.

"Do you wanna talk?"

"... You want to talk."

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." Stone lay back down and wrapped his arm around Robotnik's waist, pulling him in close and tangling their legs together. "Who was she?"

"... She really was my mother."

"I thought you said you were an orphan."

"I thought I was." Ivo took a deep breath. "If you want my life's story, Aban..."

"You don't have to. I just want to know what's going on."

A quiet sigh, a nod. "Alright. Fine. Sit up... let me tell you."


	2. A Mother's Scorn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ivo explains who Isaac is, and his relationship with Odelia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY ANOTHER TRIGGER WARNING: this chapter gets kind of real. there's verbal abuse and largely-implied physical abuse. plus the whole plot twist i dont wanna reveal here but if youve lost a father it might hit you where it hurts. or not. idk read at your own discretion

"Isaac! Get your ass in here, right now!"

The crowing from the living room sent a pang of fear through the young boy, peeking out of his bedroom nervously.

"I know you're in your goddamn room again, Isaac! Come here!"

A wince, and the four year old Isaac Robotnik slinked out of his bedroom with his head low. He'd spilled juice on his mother's carpet earlier. He'd tried to clean it up- really, he had- but it had left a small stain, and to hide it, he'd pushed their cheap, crappy coffee table over it. It hadn't worked for long. Honestly, he hadn't expected it to.

He might have been an exceptionally bright boy- the preschool teachers had said so- but he was still just a preschooler.

"You spilled fucking juice on my carpet again!" Odelia roared, grabbing her son by the wrist when he tried to back away. "Don't back away from me! Why didn't you fucking tell me?! I could have cleaned it up! Now it's going to leave a stain! We can't afford to have the carpet replaced!"

"I-I'm sorry. I tried to clean it up." Isaac whimpered and wiped his eyes, already pouring tears.

"Oh, turn those goddamned crocodile tears off! I don't feel sorry for you!"

She reeled back to smack him, and as Isaac screamed and tried to cower away, the front door opened.

"Odelia, what the hell?"

Isaac's father was the only saving grace in his life. Richard Thomson (yes, Odelia had given their child her last name, no, he didn't know why) was a genuinely good person, making the best of a bad situation. He'd met Odelia when they were both teenage runaways in Dallas, quickly beginning a whirlwind romance that, to the surprise of no one, ended with Odelia pregnant.

Richard proposed- with no ring- the night she told him. Nine months later, in January of 1969, they had a son, Isaac Gerald Robotnik. The parents were only sixteen, and bummed space in the homes of various Good Samaritans until Richard, by a stroke of luck, found a job in a factory that paid enough for them to rent an apartment.

Odelia was never a warm, loving mother. She'd leave the infant Isaac crying in his crib for hours while she smoked and drank, only tending to him when she couldn't stand the screaming anymore. She never made an active effort to teach him to walk or talk (though he didn't really need any concerted effort for that; he had walked and spoken exceptionally early). She barely even held him, posing for smiley pictures with her new accessory-slash-child before laying him down- sometimes on furniture, sometimes on the ground- and going off to do whatever she wanted. As he got older, louder, and more rambunctious, her poor behavior escalated.

She smacked and spanked him for minor incursions. She screamed and swore at him for less. At one point, she stubbed out a cigarette on his arm, leaving him screaming and crying for hours. It was a miracle it didn't get infected.

Before Odelia's hand could strike him for the latest infraction, Richard had scooped the bawling preschooler into his arms and held him close. "What in the hell is wrong with you?!"

"He ruined our fucking carpet, Richard!"

"I'll fuckin' rent a steam cleaner or something!" Richard held Ivo a little closer. "It's okay, buddy. I'll take care of it. Shhh." He carried little Isaac back into his room, settling him down into his bed and ruffling his hair, before exiting the room again, shutting the door behind him.

Naturally, Isaac pressed his ear to the wood to listen in.

"You're going to hit him for spilling juice?! He's four!"

"He's a little shit! I never wanted a stupid fucking baby in the first place!"

"Why are you sticking around, then?! I can raise him myself!"

"The hell you can! A child needs a mother!"

"You ain't much of one!" Richard's anger was almost palpable as Isaac listened closely. "I don't know why I ever stayed with you. I'm leavin'. And I'm taking the boy with me."

That evening, Richard packed a few bags, carried them and his son out of the apartment, and didn't look back. Everything seemed fine and dandy until the brakes quit working in the car, and they blew through an intersection just in time to be hit by an oncoming truck. The last thing the boy remembered before everything went black was metal crunching, glass shattering, and screaming.

Isaac later awoke in the hospital, neither of his parents anywhere to be seen, but his stuffed rabbit- Mr. Fuzzington, his most prized possession- was clutched in his hands. A lady in nice clothes sat beside him, and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Hi. Are you Isaac?"

"Uh-huh... where's my mama?"

"She's being talked to by someone right now, sweetheart. My name is Miss Jackson, but you can call me Sheila." She smiled, her brown eyes soft and reassuring. "I wanna talk to you about what happened tonight. Do you know what happened?"

"... Mama and Daddy got into a fight, 'cause Mama was gonna hit me for spilling juice. I heard Daddy say he was gonna leave and take me with him."

The lady nodded, writing something down in her notepad. "And why do you think your daddy's car crashed?"

"The brakes quit working." Isaac fiddled with the ears on his stuffed rabbit for a minute. "I-I didn't do it..."

"No, sweetheart. We know you didn't do it."

She asked him a lot of questions. Did his mama hit him a lot? Did she scream a lot? Was the apartment warm, clean, dry? Did she make him food, help him take baths, play with him? It felt like it went on forever.

"Okay, honey," she said eventually, "we're gonna stop now. I have to go talk to some people, but I'll be back soon."

"... Is my daddy okay?"

A pause.

A doctor entered the room. "Are you finished, Miss Jackson?"

"I... yes." She turned to the doctor and whispered to him, "He asked about his father..."

A wince.

The doctor was the one to break the news. Richard had 'passed away,' he said, but Isaac knew what that meant; it was the same thing that had happened to his goldfish a few months ago. Richard was dead. He'd died on-scene, he would learn as an adult, but the last thing he'd said was "tell my son I love him."

Isaac still never returned to the apartment he had been raised in. He was placed into the custody of the state of Texas. His name was changed from Isaac to Ivo to protect him from his mother, who was now a murder suspect, and he bounced around from foster family to orphanage to state-run home for the next thirteen years of his life.

His exceptional robotics skills, test scores, and IQ didn't go unnoticed. On his eighteenth birthday, after being formally aged out of the system, he was approached by who he later learned were government agents not unlike Stone. They'd offered him the opportunity to do what he loved- building his machines- for the greater good of the country.

He didn't care much for the country, of course. He would have much preferred to be offered the position of leader of the free world, and make it all a little less free, torture everyone else the way he had been.

It would have been so poetic. A world that had never welcomed him, never accepted him, never wanted him, forced to bend at the knee and kiss his boots.

But as it was, he needed money, and he needed a place to live. He took the government job.

\---

"And, well, you can figure out what happened from there."

Stone and Ivo had arranged themselves to lie against the headboard of their bed, Stone running his fingers through Robotnik's hair. Mr. Fuzzington- one of the few remaining relics of Ivo's childhood- was clutched in his hands. Stone let out a long, low exhale when Ivo finally, finally seemed finished with his story. "Jesus."

"I never thought she'd show up in my life again. I... I thought she was dead. She never tried to get me back from the state or anything. Just... vanished. I... now that she knows I have money..."

"She's after it." Stone finished the sentence and gave Ivo a good, long squeeze of a hug. "God... why didn't you tell me about any of this...?"

"... I didn't think you'd care. And if you knew... you'd leave me."

"Never." Stone rubbed gentle circles on Ivo's back with his fingertips, kissing his forehead. "I'll always love you, Ivo. Nothing will ever change that. Just wish you'd told me about this so I could've... I don't know. Maybe done something to stop this from happening... covered our tracks better or something."

"Little late now, isn't it?" Robotnik lay his head on Stone's chest, closing his eyes and trying to listen for his heartbeat. Stone's heartbeat was always what calmed him the fastest. "... I don't want to do this breakfast thing tomorrow."

"I know. I don't, either... maybe we don't have to."

"She'll make us. She'll find a way to make us."

Sushi pushed the door open, strode into the room, and hopped onto the bed, meowing insistently to be pet. Ivo reached out and rubbed her head; the cat purred happily and leaned into his touch in a manner not unlike how he was leaning into Stone's. The comparison forced a smile onto his face.

"... She'll be here early." Robotnik glanced up at Stone, dark eyes full of... something. Worry, Stone thought, something he _never_ saw in the Doctor. "If... if she starts-"

"If she tries to start anything, I'll put a stop to it. Quick. I promise." Stone pulled the blankets up to Robotnik's chin. "Get some sleep, babe. I'm here. I'll always be here."


	3. A Mother's Scathing Comments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breakfast out gets awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this ones short! i promise chapter 4 (which may be the last chapter? idk really) is gonna have better stuff in it

What was it about Stone that made it awkward for his significant others to meet his family, or vice versa? It always worked out like this. Granted, his partners had never had parents as vile as Odelia Robotnik before. There was the guy from Hawaii he dated where he had to choke down Spam, and the fellow from Idaho whose parents fed him possum meat (the gamiest, nastiest thing he had ever eaten), but somehow, sitting beside Ivo in booth at a pancake restaurant across from Odelia was worse.

"So... whatever your name is." Odelia sipped her coffee, pointedly ignoring the glare Stone shot her. "What is it you do for a living?"

"Well... I joined the military to begin with. I spent a few years active, did a couple of tours in Afghanistan and Iraq..." 

"Oh. Which side were you on? Were you some kind of double agent?" Stone chose to ignore that question and keep telling his story like she hadn't asked it.

"And I wasn't going to re-enlist. I was going to come back home here, and maybe finish college, but-"

"I'm not surprised you didn't finish college. Your kind rarely do."

"... Anyway... I was approached by a couple of men who told me they liked what they saw out of me in the army. They wanted me for something bigger, and they'd fund my way through college. I can't talk too much about it, but I was in the Secret Service. I never protected a President or VP-"

"Thank God."

Taking a deep breath, Stone continued, "but that is how I met Ivo. He was given security detail after an assassination attempt. He had robots to defend him, but the government insisted on meat shields, too. I was... what, your fifth bodyguard?"

"Sixth," Ivo corrected. "You were the first one that lasted longer than a month, though."

Their waitress interrupted the conversation by placing their food in front of them; Stone glanced, concerned, at the small portion on Ivo's plate. "That's all you're gonna eat? One piece of French toast and a little bit of bacon?"

"I'm not that hungry."

"Well..." Stone gently pushed a bowl of fresh fruit that came with his food over to Ivo. "At least eat some of this for me, babe. Please?"

"Hm." Odelia glowered at them darkly. "Are you sure about that, Isaac, sweetie? I noticed your clothes are a little snug around the middle. You must have gained weight since you moved here."

Ivo said nothing, instead opting to swallow hard and stare down at his plate of food. Stone, on the other hand, wasn't so quiet. "He's been skin and bones for as long as I've known him. I shouldn't be able to wrap my entire hand around his wrist."

"And just why were you grabbing at his wrists?"

"If you _have_ to know, we were having sex." Stone almost smiled as Odelia choked on her coffee. "What? We're getting married. You thought we slept in separate beds I Love Lucy-style? Never touched each other?"

"I- that's- you're supposed to wait-"

"You didn't," Ivo grumbled under his breath, picking at his food ever so slightly. This earned him a stare from Odelia that could only be described as hateful.

"Excuse you?"

"... N-nothing, Mama."

"You little shit," Odelia snarled, looking like it was taking all of her personal strength to not physically attack the Doctor. "Don't you dare sass me like that ever again. You respect your mother, whether you like it or not. I don't need this kind of shit from you."

Ivo remained eerily quiet through the rest of their meal, taking Odelia's jabs without saying a word. Whenever Stone tried to defend him, either Ivo would quietly inform him "it's alright, Aban" or Odelia would cut him off, saying something about how he didn't get to have an opinion on the situation; after all, he wasn't her son.

That was the worst meal of Stone's life.

Thankfully, Odelia was quiet for a couple of days afterward, leaving the pair alone with no real explanation. Stone wasn't going to go looking for one; the sooner she vanished, the better, in his opinion.

Less thankfully, however, her comments appeared to be getting to Ivo.

He ate less and less, Stone noticed, and what he did eat was incredibly little and always restricted to fruit and granola bars. He started spending hours tinkering endlessly at his workbench- he might have sworn off the death machines, but robotics was in his blood- making devices that didn't seem to do anything useful but kept his hands busy.

What alarmed him the most was Robotnik's newfound aversion to Stone touching him. He used to hate it, sure, like he hated most other people touching him, but over time he'd grown used to- almost expectant of- touch from his partner.

Laying in bed on the evening of their third day of no contact from Odelia, Stone rolled over in bed and wrapped an arm around Ivo's waist, kissing at his neck gently. "You okay?"

"Fine."

"Wanna fool around a little?"

"No." Ivo gently moved Stone's arm off his waist, curling up at the edge of the bed. "I just want to go to sleep, Aban."

"... Babe... I'm not gonna sit here and let you beat yourself up." Stone put a gentle hand on Robotnik's shoulder. "Come on... talk to me. Please. I don't want to beg you but I will if I have to. You're not eating, you're not talking to me, you're holing up in your office all day..."

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"If I gotta strap in for another story, I will." Stone gently pulled Robotnik to sit up beside him. "Come on. Please talk to me. I just want to help you, baby, I swear..."

Though he rolled his eyes, Ivo still leaned into Stone's side. "Alright, fine..."


	4. A Mother's Exclusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stone loses his temper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> odelia robotnik more like odelia go-fuck-yourself
> 
> i really enjoyed writing stone's little rant here tbh, very cathartic. this is probably gonna be the last chapter of this particular story unless im hit with more particular mama botnik inspo but really i kinda wanna keep her gone because she fuckin suuuuuuuuuuucks

Since he was a boy, Ivo quickly learned the only thing he had control over was his food. He couldn't choose whether he was sent to a new foster home, whether they sent him back to the state when he was 'just too much,' whether anyone actually wanted him, but he could control when and what he ate. He could refuse dinner, or sneak into the kitchen and get a midnight snack, or eat nothing but cantaloupe, or any number of other things.

As an adult, a similar need for control kept the bad habits up. He often straight-up forgot to eat, and when he did remember he would eat something that didn't have much caloric value and wouldn't take long to prepare. Most often it was something he could pry out of a wrapper and shove into his face, or- if he was feeling fancy- heat up in the microwave.

"And I don't know when, but somewhere along the line, I just... got scared of gaining weight. I don't know when, or why, or how. But until you came along, and we... got intimate... I thought I was fine. But that first night, when you sat there staring at me, and you ran your fingers over my ribs and said how I was frighteningly thin..."

"I said you were skinny. And you were. And, frankly, you still are."

Robotnik scoffed quietly. "As I was saying... something about how you spoke to me that night made something... click. What I was doing wasn't normal, and wasn't healthy, but... I never believed I deserved better. I know you said I was beautiful, and you seem to genuinely believe that for reasons I have never once understood... but until we moved out here, and we were staying with your family, I still didn't think I deserved to treat myself better."

Stone couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Ah, yeah, that time you came downstairs without a shirt on. You were afraid you offended my parents by being shirtless, but my mom leaned over to me and just whispered that she could count your ribs, and how she could see your spine through your skin..."

"And the next thing I knew I had a massive platter of fried chicken and waffles waiting for me. She sat there until I ate all of it."

"And I've tried to keep feeding you since then..." Stone tugged Robotnik into his lap, kissing him softly on the lips. "Babe, I'm so proud of you. I know it's been a big thing for you, but-"

"But nothing, Aban," Robotnik cut him off, pushing away from him and sitting at the edge of the bed. "I look hideous. You can admit it. I know already."

"Ivo." Stone got out of bed and pulled the Doctor to his feet, walking him over to the mirror by their wardrobe. "Look at yourself, honey. Look." Gently turning Robotnik's head to face his reflection, he stood behind him, but did make a point to wrap his arms around his waist and press against him, as a reminder that he was still there. "Tell me what you see. Don't be literal with me, either. You're a smart man... you know what I'm asking."

With quiet contemplation, Robotnik looked his reflection over. Just as Stone had said, he could no longer see his ribs, his shoulder blades and collar bone weren't as prominent, and he had developed the tiniest bit of extra fat around his belly.

He hated it.

"I see the one person I hate more than anything else. And the one person who hates me back just as much. I see a pale, lanky... _thing_ undeserving of the title of man or machine. A flawed, disgusting shell I rely on." He took a long, deep, shaky breath to regain control of his emotions. "I hate myself, Aban. I have since I was a boy. A-And I don't understand why you don't. I've given you endless reasons to despise me and you refuse to. You... you deserve so much better than me, and I deserve so much worse than you."

Stone rested his chin on Robotnik's shoulder, kissing his neck before he spoke. "You wanna know what I see? I see a tall, handsome, _so ridiculously smart_ man. I see a genius who revolutionized the world of drone technology. I see someone who likes for everyone to think he's tough, but behind closed doors he cries over Beauty and the Beast and laughs himself to tears whenever he watches Saturday Night Live." He peppered kisses over Robotnik's neck and shoulder. "I see the best goddamned thing that ever happened to me. I see the man I love. I see my beautiful, _perfect_ fiance that I would do anything for. Anything. And this?" He moved his hands up, just a little, and gave Ivo's belly a soft squeeze. "This makes for a really, really nice pillow during movie night."

Then he _tickled_ Robotnik. Ivo wanted to be indignant- no one fucking tickled the smartest man alive!- but failed as he cracked into giggles and batted Stone's hands away with a weak "stoppit!" Stone did no such thing, instead opting to lift Ivo bodily and toss him into their bed, before pouncing and continuing his attack. Howling with laughter, Robotnik tried to squirm away from the merciless tickle-mauling; only when he actually physically grabbed Stone's hands did the ex-agent stop. Stone smiled down at the still-giggling Doctor, leaning in and kissing his forehead gently.

"There's that beautiful smile. I haven't seen nearly enough of it these last few days." He lay down beside Ivo and pulled him into his arms. "You're my everything, Ivo. I _adore_ you. There aren't words strong enough to describe how much I love you." Stone combed his fingers through Robotnik's hair. "And your crazy mother isn't going to change that no matter how hard she tries. I love you."

"That's... incredibly beautiful, Aban, but-"

"Shhh." Stone pressed a finger to Robotnik's lips. "No, no buts. I won't hear it. If I thought I'd ever, ever, ever not love you, I wouldn't have asked you to marry me. I don't give _one iota_ of a fuck about what your crazy goddamned bat of a mother thinks about us."

With a little smile on his face, Ivo held tight to Stone and nuzzled into his neck. "Thank you. I don't say it nearly enough, but... it means more to me than I can say that you're sticking with me."

"Shhhh. I don't want to hear you talk about yourself like that. You're my beautiful, perfect husband, and I love you. I love you so, so much." Stone left their embrace for just a moment to turn off the lights. "Get some sleep. I've got you."

\---

Stone was awakened the next morning by the doorbell. With a groan, he fumbled for his phone, finding it on the nightstand and blearily managing to read the time on it. Six-fifty. Who the hell was ringing the doorbell at 6:50 in the morning?

He sat his phone down on his nightstand again and pried himself out of Ivo's arms, carefully extricating himself from the Doctor's complicated grasp. Plodding downstairs, rubbing his eyes, he opened the front door and was both shocked and not at the sight before him.

"... What are you doing here?"

"I have a right to be here."

Odelia. Goddammit, right as he was starting to think they were rid of her after that horrendous breakfast outing. She eyed Aban with a dark scrutiny. "What in the world are you wearing? That's no outfit to be working in."

Stone glanced down at the old t-shirt and boxer shorts he was wearing. "I'm... in my pajamas?"

"You should be up and fixing breakfast. The help-"

"I'm not the help," Stone grumbled. "This is my house."

"I don't care what you are. To me, you are the help. Now make me some breakfast, and make it snappy."

"I'm sorry? I'm not making you breakfast at seven in the morning."

"And what have you done with my son? He should be up."

"He's still in bed. Like most people are at this godforsaken hour."

"Oh, so you let him get away with being lazy? That's not a surprise. Your people have always been averse to working-"

"Excuse me?"

"Unless it's working to torture innocent Americans. Tell me, Muhammad, where are you from, really? Afghanistan? Iraq? You worked for the Taliban, right? Or were you a double agent, lying to both your people and good Americans?"

"You- I- I'm from West Virginia! I was raised, like, twenty minutes from here!"

"Sure, sure, and I'm the Pope. How about you make me a bacon sandwich?"

"Is... is that supposed to be-"

"Your kind don't eat pigs, right? Too filthy for even you to touch?"

A simmering rage boiled inside Stone, and it was growing harder and harder to contain it.

"Is that why you keep that filthy animal around, too?" Odelia asked, glaring at Sushi, curled up and purring away in her basket. "Dogs are unclean for you, right?"

"First of all," Stone growled, "I'm not even religious. Second of all, I was raised Christian. Third of all, you have no many idea how many of my friends in the Army I watched die that were Muslims, and they were all better people than you could ever be."

"... I'm sorry? How dare you speak to me like that? I am your future mother-in-law!"

Stone normally prided himself on his temper. He was cool, controlled, and kept his head when he was angry. Being temperamental didn't suit a Secret Service agent; he had to be calm under pressure and do the job he was assigned to do.

But Odelia, and hearing her state that she was his future mother-in-law, was more than he could handle.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP."

His own volume startled him, but more importantly, it startled Odelia, and she did exactly as he said.

"Listen to me, you ignorant fucking witch. You are not my future mother-in-law. You are not Ivo's mother. You might be his mother by blood but you _abso-fucking-lutely_ are not worthy of the title." Sushi blinked awake and skittered out of the room when she saw how angry her owner was, hurrying up the stairs and choosing to snuggle down against Ivo.

It didn't last long, though, as the yelling had awoken Robotnik as well. He chose not to go downstairs, instead hiding just at the top of the staircase to listen in.

"A mother doesn't beat and scream at a toddler. A mother doesn't let her only child get taken away by CPS. A mother doesn't cut her husband's brakes and try to get both him and her son killed. A mother doesn't show up out of the blue when her son has money after not contacting him for forty-fucking-six years. A mother doesn't criticize every single aspect of her son's life and call his fiance racial slurs."

He didn't realize he had her backed against a wall, snarling like an animal, but not actively hurting her. "Speaking of which, what in the _fuck_ do you think gives you the right to waltz into my house- which I own- and assume I'm a butler? Just because I'm not white I have to be the help? And then to accuse me of being a Taliban spy, call me a terrorist, lazy, uneducated, just because, what, I'm brown? You are the worst fucking kind of person."

Odelia opened her mouth and got out an "I-" before Stone snapped at her again.

"I said SHUT THE FUCK UP! You show up, out of nowhere, criticize my home, my cat, my education, my career history, my moral fortitude, my family, literally every Middle Eastern person who ever existed, my _engagement ring on Ivo's finger_ , and you do it all with a fucking stupid sneer on your face because you're so much better than me, right? Newsflash, bitch, you aren't. You're a sad, pathetic bigot. You wonder why Ivo gets so quiet around you, why he doesn't speak to you, why he's so careful about it when he does? He doesn't fucking like you! And neither! Do! I!"

"... You fucking monster. You think you can tell me-"

"I think I can tell you what to do as long as you're on my goddamned property! And lemme tell you somethin' right now. If you ever, ever, _ever_ get anywhere near me or that wonderful man you took for granted upstairs, ever again, I will get the cops involved. There's a fundamental difference between us, and I think it'd be for the best if we never spoke again."

"You can't-"

"You want to know what that fundamental difference is?"

Stone backed away, gently but firmly pulled Odelia away from the wall, and pushed her out the front door. She stumbled, but kept on her feet.

"I actually love Ivo. Now, fuck off and never speak to either of us again."

With a firm slam of the door, and a click of the lock, Stone slumped against it and slid to the floor, rubbing his temples. The adrenaline was wearing off. He shook where he sat, eyes closed, ignoring the insistent ringing of the doorbell and pounding on the door.

He glanced up when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs; smiling a little at the sight of Ivo, cradling Sushi in his arms.

"I... think I fixed our problem."

"'Til she crashes our wedding." Ivo put Sushi down on the couch, and helped Stone to his feet. "... That was the most romantic thing you could have ever done for me, Aban."

"I try." Stone pulled Robotnik in for a kiss. The soundtrack could have been more romantic- banshee shrieking and incessant pounding on their door didn't make for the nicest atmosphere, as it turned out- but God, neither of them cared. The kiss broke, and Stone gently stroked a finger over Ivo's lips. "It's early," he murmured. "Let's go back to bed, babe."

"Gladly."

As they ascended the stairs, Sushi close behind, Stone heard a car door slam, an engine rev, and a car go screeching into the dewy morning.

With any luck, she wouldn't be back.


End file.
